Page 70 of Under the Northern Lights
“That was nice of your mother,” Aurora said as she slipped them on. “Perfect fit,” she announced as she bent over to work her cuffed rain pants carefully down over them.
Gage watched as she straightened and moved to the edge of the porch. No awkward wobble. “Looks like I won’t need to carry you to the boat.”
“It is raining,” she replied with a mischievous grin. “There’s bound to be lots of mud.”
Gage’s brows lifted. “You didn’t learn your lesson the last time I carried you in the rain?”
She laughed, a beautiful, lilting sound that Gage would never forget. “Apparently not.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I was only kidding,” Aurora said, her laughter filling the air.
“I can’t have you going home thinking I’m not the sure-footed mountain goat I claimed to be,” Gage told her with a grin. Thankfully, the rain was light and the ground far less slick. His mother would never let him hear the end of it if he and Aurora ended up covered in mud again or worse.
“You’ve definitely proven yourself today.”
Gage slowed his gait as they neared the dock where the boat Reed would be taking them out on was waiting.
His brother looked up from the rope he was coiling, his eyes widening beneath the hood of his raincoat. A slow smile spread across his face. “What are you?” he asked. “The island taxi service?”
“Only for special guests,” Gage called back as he carefully lowered Aurora to her feet on the wet dock.
“It was a do-over,” Aurora explained as they made their way along the dock. “Gage needed to have his pride restored.”
“Truth,” Gage said with a chuckle as his brother reached out a hand to help Aurora onto the boat.
“The boat’s ready to go,” Reed announced. Then his gaze took in Aurora’s altered rain gear. “Only you could make an oversized raincoat and pants look fashionable.”
“It’s all in having the proper cuff-folding technique for both pants and jacket sleeves,” she explained with a grin. “Today I am attempting the fold-under to keep the rain from pooling in my pants.”
After a short safety briefing from Reed, they pulled away from the dock.
“Any word from Hank?” Gage asked.
“Fish are biting. Vick, Mario, and his boys hope to get a full day of fishing in before they leave tomorrow,” his brother replied. Then he looked at Aurora. “You haven’t met them because they prefer to cook at their cabin. Mario brought his teenage sons for this fishing trip.”
“I’ll bet the boys have enjoyed being included in this trip. I came across them on my walk one morning.” She looked at Gage. “So it appears you’re going to have a full flight out in the morning.”
Gage nodded. “Last of our guests for the week leave tomorrow.” He wished it were going to be just him and Aurora on the flight to Juneau, but it was his job to shuttle guests back and forth, which meant that wasn’t going to happen. So he’d set up this private fishing outing with his brother’s help.
Aurora moved to stand at the side of the boat, arms crossed in front of her.
“Cold?” Gage asked as he stepped up beside her. There was a bit of a breeze, mixed with the misting rain, making it feel chillier than it actually was.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “Just trying to take it all in. I’ve only really seen these waters from the plane flying in from Seattle and then from your plane. It’s a whole differentview when you’re on a boat right in the middle of it all. The rain-dappled water. The snowy mountain peaks.”
A loud whistle sounded from behind them.
They looked to see Reed pointing off to the other side of the boat, just ahead of where they were. “You might want to aim your camera that way,” he called out as he slowed the boat.
“Oh, Gage, look!” she exclaimed, frantically scrambling for her camera as she hurried over to the opposite side of the fishing boat.
He followed right behind her, prepared to catch Aurora should she slip on the wet deck in her haste to get another perfect shot. When they reached the rail at the front of the boat, Aurora quickly aimed her camera in the direction of the pod of whales Reed had caught sight of. They were breaching, spouts of water bursting upward as air released from their blowholes mixed with the surface water just above it. Always a sight to behold.
“Those are humpback whales,” Gage told Aurora as she snapped pictures of the natural spectacle the boat would soon be passing.
“This is so incredible! I don’t even care if it’s drizzling out today, or that the water isn’t as calm as it could be,” she assured him, the awe clear in her voice. “I got to see whales! A whole school of them.”
